They could not have been more relaxed and fun on their wedding day. My associate Huy and I had a great time documenting their wedding day at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It’s nice to have everything taking place in one location so we don’t have to worry about transportation between sites. Gail Johnson and her fabulous team from Wedding Soiree in Atlanta were on hand to keep the entire day stress free!

Enjoy the photo sneak peek!

Here’s Nikki vogue’ing it up like a super model as she puts her dress on.

How sweet is this photo? She’s helping with the long veil as Nikki has it placed.

Congratulations Nikki & David!

You may remember Erika and Leroy from their engagement session earlier this year. One of the most important aspects of their wedding and photos for Leroy was that he wanted to make sure that Atlanta was represented. With that in mind, they chose the Ventana’s rooftop venue for their reception location. I’ve shot at Ventanas a number of times but this was my first wedding there so I was uber excited.

And this is why… does the view get much better than this?

My good friend and amazing photographer, Shawna Herring, was on hand to 2nd shoot with me. It’s been a long time coming so I was absolutely delighted to have her along.

Enjoy a few more photos…

As usual, there’s a whole host of vendors that are working together to make a beautiful wedding like this take place.

Planning/Coordination: Eliana Baucicault with ellyB Events
Ceremony Venue: North Avenue Presbyterian Church
Reception Venue: Ventanas
Videography: Ryan with Rodinis Films
Florals/Design: Jackson/Durham Flowers and Events
Catering: Affairs to Remember
Cake: Couture Cakes
DJ: Dale Thomas “DJ SixFive”

Congratulations Erika & Leroy!

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving

Baillie is the very picture of class…

My associate Huy Cat was on hand to 2nd shoot with me. In fact, he shot the image above. Here are a few more images from Baillie & Nick’s beautiful wedding day.

Congratulations to you both!

Timeless.

When I use the word timeless, I do not mean vintage. What I do mean is this: a timeless image will look just as powerful in 2 years (when the current photography trends have passed us by) as it will when they display it at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration. So before I ruin it running my mouth…

These are my two personal favorites that we captured at the beautiful Capital City Country Club in her stunning Lazaro wedding dress.

The image below is the image that Sarah ordered as a canvas to display at the reception.

Now, knowing Sarah the above two images are quite a change from the rather joyful and exuberant Sarah we all know. Here is an image that really captures that…

Hillary and Brian wanted to integrate as much of the Athens college life they shared together into their wedding day. In addition to the festivities surrounding the wedding day being held at some of their favorites haunts, they decided to have the ceremony at Herty Field, the original football and baseball venue for UGA in the early 1900’s.

From start to finish, Hillary and Brian, their wedding party, family and friends were an absolute joy to spend the day with. They could relax and enjoy the day with Susan from Susan Graham Signature Events handling coordination for the day. As a side note, Susan was nominated one of the Top 10 Most Influential Planners in Atlanta by Occasions Magazine in the Spring/Summer 2010 Issue which hits stands on July 1.

After a beautiful ceremony at Herty Field, and a few portraits near the field and famous UGA Arch…

…we all headed back to the Foundry Park Inn & Spa where they held their reception. Everybody had an absolute blast with The Highballs providing some awesome music (check out the slideshow below), and they closed the evening by closing down the Arch Bar with their family and friends. Here’s an image my associate, Huy, captured by putting himself in the right place at the right time.

Congratulations Hillary and Brian!

Facebook readers: CLICK HERE to view the slideshow.

Becky and Todd chose the perfect weekend to get married in Big Canoe. The dogwood trees were simply AMAZING… a week earlier and the trees would be mostly covered in buds and a week later the colors would be totally different. Here’s just a few of the images I captured for Jason on that day…

In case you’re wondering about this cake topper, it has a very special meaning for the couple. They were both on the same little league baseball team as children and they have the team photos to prove it. This was only one of the 5 cakes they had and while in the past I may have wondered why in the world anyone would want a baseball themed cake topper, I now know. And more than that, I absolutely loved it because I know the profound love they share and the depth that comes from knowing someone for as long as they have known each other…

This was the first time that I had covered a wedding at the Biltmore Ballrooms since their electrical fire the day before the last wedding I shot there. This was also my first time working a wedding with Ashley from Ashley Baber Weddings. We had worked other events together where Bold American had asked me to shoot decor imagery, but never a wedding together. As I suspected she would, she did a stellar job and made everything flow smoothly. [As an aside, I'm going to do a blog post soon about why you absolutely need to hire a wedding planner if you are a bride getting married.]

Check out these shoes that Bryan Scott shot. Do they have attitude or what?

Check out this bouquet by On Occasions of Atlanta…

Food and decor was provided by Affairs to Remember…

Okay, I have to admit that this isn’t the most artistic picture in the world, but wanted to include it because I was so impressed with the job that Celso’s did. This cake was immaculate!

Isn’t Jennifer STUNNING!

Here’s the exit shot that I’ve talked about before and that I’ve grown to really love and appreciate…

Congratulations Jennifer and Jeff!

Facebook readers: CLICK HERE to view the slideshow.

Vendors:

Planning Coordination: Ashley Baber Weddings
Ceremony/Reception Venue: Biltmore Ballrooms
Food and Decor: Affairs to Remember
Florals: On Occasions of Atlanta
Wedding Cake: Celso’s
Limo: Classy Car Limo
DJ: Lou Guzzo, Spectrum Entertainment
Hair: Salon Verde, Andrea Hess
Makeup: Ebony Crawley
Babysitting: Elegant Event Sitters

Katie flew in for that wedding and when I met her I was touched by how close she and Christina obviously were. I was absolutely thrilled that she asked me to shoot her wedding in Kings Park, NY on Long Island. You’ll notice below and in the slideshow that they’re Skype’ing with their friends who are still on tour and are just minutes away from going on stage.

This is one of my favorite images that Huy captured on the wedding day. I just love the composition.

I’m quite certain Huy had a great time shooting the guys most of the afternoon. They’re like a walking movie set.

Just a couple more of my favorites from the day…

Facebook readers: CLICK HERE to view the slideshow.

They were married at the Cathedral of Christ the King and hosted their reception at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Atlanta where we shot their engagement session back in December.

As you take a look at their slideshow, you’ll notice that not only does Valerie have the coolest vintage dress ever – there aren’t many women who can pull it off like she did — she changed during the reception into a more modern and fun dress. Take a look and leave a comment below…

Facebook readers: CLICK HERE to view the slideshow.

Here’s a quick peak into Melissa and Rafael’s wedding. They got married at St. Benedict Catholic Church and held their reception at the Alpharetta Athletic Club, which was quite beautiful. Of course, Huy came out to capture some beautiful images for Melissa and Rafael.

Some of my favorites images are sometimes little vignettes, or peaks into a larger world. I particularly love it when they give you a sense of closeness or intimacy. Sometimes that closeness is feeling like you’re close to the subject in the image, like you’re part of their world for a few moments, like you’ve been given a glimpse into a sacred or private moment…

And other times the emotion you’re experiencing is the closeness and intimacy between the bride and groom…

Then sometimes the opposite vantage point of distance and the moment of intimacy that interrupts the grand landscape give you the same sense of awe about the moment you see before you…